Tag "Hydraulic fracturing"

The British government’s recently-departed shale gas commissioner admitted to routinely deleting correspondence and throwing away notes from meetings with fracking companies in a move that may have violated transparency requirements.
In response to an Unearthed freedom of information request sent earlier this year, Natascha Engel — who resigned this weekend after just 6 months in the role — said: “I tend to deal with everything on the day and delete what has been done to avoid any huge build-ups or risk of duplication. “The same is true of the few notes I take in meetings which I review in the evenings, action and throw away.”
Unearthed initially wrote to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which employs Engel for a fee of £500 a day, for the information but were told to apply directly to Engel herself who was described as “separate from BEIS.”
Following Engel’s response, Unearthed has requested an internal review of the handling of the request.
However, it is not clear if the review will continue to be processed following Engel’s exit and, if so, who will conduct it, as Engel carried out the initial response and guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office states that review of this nature should be “carried out by someone senior to the person who dealt with the original request” or, if that is not possible, “someone trained in, and who understands, the Environmental Information Regulations.”
Though Engel did provide a handful of emails in response to the request, there were no communications covering Oct. 5, when she first entered the role, and Dec. 30.
In her resignation letter to business secretary Greg Clark, Engel decried the government’s refusal to review the seismic activity standards that have made drilling incredibly difficult to carry out.
She wrote: “a perfectly viable and exciting new industry that could help meet our carbon reduction targets, make us energy secure and provide jobs in parts of the country that really need them is in danger of withering on the vine” unless the government reviews its rules on drilling-induced tremors.
Reposted with permission from our media associate Unearthed.

The National Trust has withdrawn legal opposition to seismic surveys being carried out at Clumber Park – but will continue the fight against fracking at the site.
INEOS took the charity to the High Court earlier this year after demanding access to the Grade I registered site to search for shale gas.
The National Trust remains completely opposed to fracking at Clumber Park but, after extensive legal efforts and carefully considering all the evidence available, has taken the decision to withdraw its legal opposition to surveys at the site.
Fracking firms can use the Mines Act 1966 to secure access rights to land.
The grounds on which the owner of the land can object to this are very limited and depend on the circumstances at each property.
“We think it is wrong that we, or any other landowner, should be compelled to admit surveys at a place as special and loved as this.
“Let me be clear though, Clumber Park comes first.
And, as such, we have demanded that INEOS provides assurances that these surveys will not damage this special place, which is our main priority.
“We have a duty to ensure that the surveys are carried out in ways that absolutely minimise the risks of damaging wildlife, fragile habitats and opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people to enjoy Clumber Park.
“It is important at this stage to make the distinction between carrying out seismic surveys to search for shale gas on the one hand, and fracking itself.

OLI SCARFF / AFP / Getty Images It would appear that the resurgence of fracking in the UK is on very shaky ground.
A 1.5 magnitude tremor was recorded at around 11:20 a.m. on Tuesday, an order of magnitude strong enough that five people told the British Geological Survey that they had felt the quake.
AND IT IS SHUTDOWN!
Well done, Cuadrilla, you utter incompetents. “Cuadrilla will pause and continue to monitor micro seismicity for at least the next 18 hours, in line with the traffic light system regulations. “My neighbour’s chair shook.”
Apparently, when a concerned resident 1.5 miles away felt the earthquake & heard a bang, she called Cuadrilla only… https://t.co/Apn8SRpMza — Lady_Claire (@Lady_ClaireUK) 1544539087.0 The 1.5 magnitude quake was also the last of nine recorded in a 90 minute time span Tuesday, the most recorded on the site within a single day, The Lancashire Evening Post reported.
And instead of acknowledging that fracking needs to end, Cuadrilla are instead urging for regulations around earthquakes to be relaxed,” Bosworth further told The Lancashire Evening Post.
After today’s quake, and with the effects of climate breakdown already happening around us, isn’t it time to put a stop to fracking once and for all?”
Since operations restarted this October, a total of 47 minor earthquakes have been recorded.

The South Australian Parliament has approved an amendment to the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act 2000 (Act) to ban fracking in the south east of South Australia.
The Petroleum and Geothermal Energy (Ban on Hydraulic Fracturing) Amendment Act 2018 (Act) was a private members bill, which formalises a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (better known as fracking) in the south east of South Australia by amending the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act 2000.
The moratorium was introduced by way of policy following an election promise by the liberal opposition to concerned stakeholders in the south east ahead of the state election earlier this year.
The Act gained assent on 1 November 2018 and came into force on that date.
The area affected by the fracking ban is comprised of the following council areas: the City of Mount Gambier the District Council of Grant the Kingston District Council the Naracoorte Lucindale Council the District Council of Robe the Tatiara District Council the Wattle Range Council The moratorium will last for 10 years from the commencement of the amendment.
During this time, the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy (Minister) will be unable to grant a licence for fracking, and any condition of a licence (current or future) that authorises the carrying out of fracking will be taken to be void and of no effect.
There is no compensation payable by the Crown, the Minister or any other person in connection with the operation of the moratorium.

Kasdorf, a poet and English professor at Pennsylvania State University, asked her server what was going on.
Determined to keep an open mind, she began seeking out stories from people affected by fracking.
Her conversation at a roadside restaurant inspired the opening poem, “Fry Brothers Turkey Ranch with Urbanspoon and Yelp Reviews.” Here’s a snippet: The young waitress says last winter they didn’t have to lay Anyone off.
Pennsylvania sits atop one of the world’s largest natural gas fields, the Marcellus Shale, and as of May 2017 was host to 10,097 active fracking wells, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.
If fracking means you can keep your farm, am I going to stand in judgment about that?
In Shale Play, Kasdorf draws from court transcripts, letters, and legal documents.
She lives just 10 miles from the house where she grew up, south of the Marcellus Shale.
But in April, a Pennsylvania appeals court issued a landmark ruling that redefined some fracking as trespassing.
“These companies have no concern for the people and places they are using,” Kasdorf says.
“We must protect our own people and places from the violence of this kind of exploitation and destruction.

One of the biggest freshwater reservoirs in the world is, literally, up in the air.
Let there be water Here’s how the process would work.
Excess gas that otherwise would go to waste could power an engine of a big refrigeration unit.
Water for oil There are many uses for this water, which we believe would be fit for human consumption, including food processing, mining and other industries.
And there are some oil patches, including the Eagle Ford in Texas, where water scarcity is making it challenging to produce oil.
I have calculated that tapping excess gas to capture water would provide one-fifth of the water used in fracking the parched Eagle Ford Shale region in South Texas.
And we cannot see any environmental downsides to giving it a try.
It would work best in areas that are hot and humid, including Texas and other southern states in the U.S., Mexico, Venezuela, Middle East and Africa year-round.
There have been efforts to stop wasting the natural gas produced as a byproduct of oil drilling before.
Other efforts to condense water in the air are underway.

Final preparations for fracking are to begin at a site in Lancashire following the completion of a second well, an energy firm has said.
Cuadrilla, which finished a first well at Little Plumpton in April, will start fracking once it has final government consent, a spokesman said.
He added that the firm expected to get that consent “imminently”.
A trespassing ban at the site, which has seen numerous protests, was recently extended for two years.
Environmental charity Friends of the Earth has sought a judicial review over the Environment Agency’s decision to allow hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – and is awaiting a decision on their application.
A Cuadrilla spokesman said it would take a few weeks to dismantle the drilling rig, but much of the equipment to prepare for fracking was already on site.
He said the firm had previously applied for consent to frack in the first well from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and would now apply for the second as well.
He added that the company expected to receive consent for the first well “imminently”.
Mr Egan said subject to consent being granted, “we plan to fracture the shale rock around these wells over the coming months and test the flow rates of natural gas from the shale”.

Energy companies using hydraulic fracturing – fracking – to extract natural gas and petroleum from rock and shale formations have inadvertently revealed and, in some cases, created, communities of microbial life thousands of metres below Earth’s surface, according to new research.
Discoveries from the United States could have implications for improved energy production from fracking sites and, more interestingly, point the way forward for scientists investigating the potential for life on Mars.
A study led by scientists at Ohio State University and published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has uncovered the genetic details of microbes found in wells: a wide array of bacteria thrive in these crevices created by fracking, all producing methane.
The news, however, isn’t necessarily all good.
The study’s lead author, Kelly Wrighton, says the microbial lifeforms could prove to be corrosive, toxic or otherwise harmful.
The findings will inform the fracking industry, environmentalists and others.
“Finding life in these rocky, salty, hard-to-survive conditions would not be dissimilar to finding life on another planet,” says Wrighton, who recently applied for a NASA grant to aid her inquiries.
“If we want to think about what life would be like if it could exist on Mars, this is probably a pretty good place to start.” The study notes that in 2016, natural gas became the main source of electricity in the US, the first time that a resource other than coal has provided a bulk of the nation’s power.
“We found here that multiple wells have similar microorganisms, which are capable of producing methane.
That’s not been done in shale yet, but it’s done in other systems, including in coal mining.” The microbes found in the fracking mines also have parallels with those found in other protein-rich ecosystems, including the human gut and soil, she adds.

Future applications from developers wanting to drill for oil and gas in Wales will not be supported, ministers have confirmed.
The Welsh Government has set out an updated policy on petroleum extraction, which includes fracking.
The Welsh Government has opposed fracking for several years, with a “moratorium” in place since 2015.
Petroleum licences, issued by the UK government over the last 30 years, give a developer the exclusive rights to explore for and develop oil or gas in a particular area.
A consultation on the proposals runs until the end of September.
You might be interested in these stories: Fracking ban and the situation in Wales What is fracking and why is it so controversial?
Relaxing fracking planning laws proposed Ineos ‘astonished’ by Scottish position UK fracking ‘ not viable’ The fracking moratorium meant councils minded to approve applications for drilling had to refer them to the cabinet secretary for energy, planning and rural affairs.
But some have argued ministers did not have the power to stop developments from going ahead until now.
In Scotland, a petrochemical firm last month lost a legal challenge against the government’s “effective ban” on fracking after a judge ruled it was not a ban although there was an ongoing moratorium preventing it.
But an exploratory drilling licence has recently been given the go ahead in south Yorkshire.

Robert F. Powelson is stepping down from FERC to head the private water corporation lobby.
Robert F. Powelson is one of five commissioners who sit on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC.
Private water companies are closely tied to the fracking industry, helping to dispose and recycle the wastewater that fracking generates.
NAWC is a major lobbying force in DC for the interests of private water companies.
While speaking at a gas industry conference, he denounced pipeline protesters as engaged in “jihad.” While serving PUC chair, he accepted two tickets to a Philadelphia Eagles game.
The corporate water lobby’s decision to recruit Powelson may also indicate that they’re looking to get more aggressive in lobbying for water privatization and the further expansion of fracking.
It’s unknown how much Powelson will earn as the head of NAWC, but the current CEO earned $304,451 in total compensation from NAWC and related organizations in 2016.
It also would not be surprising if Powelson at some point takes some well-compensated corporate board of director positions.
Here are some posts we published over the past few years that examine Powelson, the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission, and FERC’s revolving door: On the slew of former FERC commissioners who went on to lobby for the corporate interests they were once task to regulation: “FERC Revolving Door Continues as Top Lawyer Leaves for Fossil Fuel Lobbying Firm” On the conflicts at the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission currently (one of the current commissioners, who use to work for a fracking industry law firm and whose former law partner represents companies like Sunoco, was Powelson’s counsel while Powelson was on the PA PUC): “As Decision on Mariner East Project Looms, Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission Ties to Project Owner Sunoco & Other Fossil Fuel Interests Present Possible Conflicts” On Powelson’s participation in an industry conference where regulators, gas lobbyists, and fracking companies schmoozed: “Pa.
DEP and PUC heads keynote gas industry events”

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